About Health Care Law

Respondeat superior is the Latin for the phrase “let the master answer”.
Generally, the term is regarded as a legal doctrine which holds the principal/employer liable or responsible for the actions of the agent/employees which takes place during the course of employment. The doctrine works behind the premise that the principal has a sense of control over the the agent’s behavior and assumes some some responsibility for the agent’s actions. Respondeat superior applies even though the employer may have done nothing wrong.
In the field of medicine, the Respondeat Superior, also applies. An example is when a surgical sponge is left inside a patient’s body (abdomen) after an operation, the OR nurse on duty is not the only one responsible for the malpractice, but also the surgeon. The patient can sue, not only the nurse, anesthetist, and the surgeon, and other members of the surgical team, but also the hospital.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009 @ 3:33 pm on the category Global Health Care, Information, Law and Policy, US Health Care. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 Both comments and pings are currently closed.